So was plan B better than plan A?

With the addition of Kyle Lowry, the sting of the Nash rejection is well reduced. While Lowry is far less marketable and the story is not as nice as the "Nash returns to Canada" story, is he a better fit basketball wise? There is no doubt that either of the Lowry addition or the Nash addition would have had a positive affect on the team, but which one will have the biggest positive affect? Will the Raptors have a better record this season with Lowry at pg vs. with Nash at pg?

While Nash would have helped develop our players (Ross, DD, and JV would have all greatly benefited from Nash), Lowry gives us scoring and defense.

I think it is an interesting question.

So, which "plan" will/would have produced a better team and a better record this season?

Plan A with Nash

or

Plan B with Lowry

I honestly do not know what I think yet.

I know this comparison has been talked about before in other threads, so mods are free to merge if necessary.

Lowry is the kind of guy that could be around for a long time. He is a great point, he's the same age as Bargs and he fits our culture. I think this is a exponentially better basketball move than signing Nash and I'm pretty pumped to see how he does.

"When Life gives you lemons, you clone those Lemons to make super lemons!"
-Scudworth

Lowry is younger, has more potential and is a very good defender. He fits the team, especially Casey's philosophy perfectly, and far more than Steve Nash. I'd say we were unbelievably lucky we didn't sign Nash.

Let's just break down the two players' strengths, weaknesses and how they would fit in the team.

Nash: Great shooter, great distributor. But is 38 and will probably keep Raptors in mediocrity if the Raptors don't become a 50ish game winning team. Is a terrible defender.

Lowry: Young, loads of potential. Averaged 7 assists last year, for a PG his age it is pretty good. One of the better defenders in the league, seems like exactly what Casey wants and would want to coach. Has one of the best contracts in the league. Will help Raptors on the long term.

There are a lot more reasons why Lowry is clearly the better choice, but now I'm just ecstatic that this is happening and for a 1st round pick + Forbes! Our lineup next year will be great to watch, especially for those who like watching high energy hard-nosed basketball.

we still have so much flexibility left too. Fields cap hit is averaged over three years so its only 6.5 million we still have about 5 we can spend without doing anything...another 5 if we rescind Bayless....another 10 if we amnesty Calderon not to mention all the other trade possibilities....but at the moment it appears

Looking at the Raptors long-term, there is no doubt this is the better trade, assuming we're getting the cooler-headed Lowry and not the Latrell Sprewell wannabe version. Age wise he fits in with the core group of players and his defensive approach would seem to mesh well with DC.

Yup, this was the plan I wanted all along. Couldn't be happier with how the offseason has progressed so far, and the team just on paper now is vastly superior to the team at the end of last season. And the Raptors are still overflowing with assets (both monetary and cap space) that they could package for one more impact move.

There's a lot of benefits to the Raptors ending up with Lowry instead of Nash. He's cheaper, he's a better defender, he's more than a decade younger so you can include him in your plans past this contract if you like, and there's a chance that he may just be straight up out-producing Nash by the time 2015 rolls around anyway.

But trading for Kyle Lowry doesn't reverberate around the league and re-establish your credibility the way landing Nash would have. I was listening to a bunch of sport talk radio the last few days and the Raptors/Nash possibilities were one of the first few things that each show had on their docket. The Raptors were relevant for the first time since Vince left and it only lasted for three days.

So to answer the question I think Plan A would have been better for big picture reasons. I think the Raptors are still one of those teams floating around in the NBA's proverbial no man's land along with the Sacramentos, Milwaukees and Charlottes of the league. There's a chance they scrap it out for the eighth playoff spot in the East and then we're all right back in this place next summer when the Raptors are relying on a top free agent to come play in Toronto and it's just not going to happen. With Nash around, I thought it might.

So to answer the question I think Plan A would have been better for big picture reasons. I think the Raptors are still one of those teams floating around in the NBA's proverbial no man's land along with the Sacramentos, Milwaukees and Charlottes of the league. There's a chance they scrap it out for the eighth playoff spot in the East and then we're all right back in this place next summer when the Raptors are relying on a top free agent to come play in Toronto and it's just not going to happen. With Nash around, I thought it might.

City wise, wouldn't it be the 'metro' area of Toronto seem better than those of Charlotte and Milwaukee? I think the only reason why people don't wanna come over cause it's Canada, which not many players in the NBA are from...